Karl Rove nailed the difference between liberals and conservatives in the speech he gave at a fundraiser last night.

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.
Citing calls by progressive groups to respond carefully to the attacks, Mr. Rove said to the applause of several hundred audience members, "I don't know about you, but moderation and restraint is not what I felt when I watched the twin towers crumble to the ground, a side of the Pentagon destroyed, and almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens perish in flames and rubble."

The liberals, of course, are angry and demanding an apology.

Told of Mr. Rove's remarks, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, replied: "In New York, where everyone unified after 9/11, the last thing we need is somebody who seeks to divide us for political purposes."

The Democrats are demanding a retraction, and are calling on the President to repudiate the comments. Strange, coming from the party that wonÂ’t repudiate Dick Durbin for comparing American soldiers to the agents of the most murderous regimes of the twentieth century. But given the continuous assaults on the President and his policies towards the forces of terrorism, I donÂ’t see RoveÂ’s comments as terribly inaccurate, despite what I will admit was a commendable and uncharacteristic pro-American stance in the short-term after 9/11.

And donÂ’t forget who the dividers have been in recent American politics, as collected by the RNC in a new commercial.
more...

Posted by: Greg at 11:38 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Looks like the only Anglicans left on this continent might be the traditionalists.

Unconvinced by the justifications offered by both churches on Tuesday for ordaining an openly homosexual bishop and authorising same-sex blessings, members of the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Nottingham asked them to leave the council and its central finance and standing committees.
Although the motion invites the churches to withdraw voluntarily, it amounts in effect to expulsion.
The debate was held behind closed doors at Nottingham University, and the motion was passed 30 to 28 by secret ballot, with four abstentions.
The Anglican Consultative Council is one of the four "instruments of unity", of the worldwide church, but it is the only one with a legal constitution. Based in Britain, it is in effect the church's central administrative body.

Ultimately, it comes down to a simple question – will the Bible or the latest social science article be binding on matters of faith and morals.

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The Washington Post recently expressed surprise that the white-sheeted history of Robert Byrd didnÂ’t hinder his political career and public image. Could it simply be that it has been ignored for years by the mainstream press?

Sunday’s article, based in part on the senator’s new autobiography, details how in the early 1940s Byrd started a chapter of the Klan in Crab Orchard, W.Va., recruited members, appealed to the KKK’s national leadership and became the local “exalted cyclops.”

The story details how Byrd remained active in the Klan for longer than he has ever acknowledged and how, in 1945, he wrote a letter saying that he would rather die than see the United States “degraded by race mongrels.”

It was strong stuff. But surely nothing new, right? Surely the Post has covered that territory many times before, right? After all, Byrd has been in the Senate since 1959.

Well, actually, not. A review of the paper’s coverage of Byrd reveals that, on the whole, the Post has been extraordinarily reluctant to investigate — or even criticize — the Democratic leader’s Klan history.

According to a search of the Nexis database, since 1977, 32 stories in the Post used Byrd’s name and the words “Klan” or “KKK.”

Three of them were letters to the editor. One was a book review. A few were stories in which Byrd’s name and “Klan” or “KKK” appeared but were not related.

Such a lack of coverage by the capitalÂ’s paper of record could certainly be the explanation.

Posted by: Greg at 11:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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An issue has been raised in the state of North Carolina about the use of religious texts for swearing in witnesses in courtrooms. It seems that often the only option available is the Bible, which creates a conundrum for those individuals whose faith does not recognize that book, While they could simply make a general affirmation of truthfulness without the book, Muslims are now asking to be permitted to use the Quran for taking the oath.

"There is no (statewide) policy ... and there is no particular plan in place to write a policy," said Dick Ellis, spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts. "We haven't gotten to the point yet that something has to be done."

Judges in Guilford County told a Greensboro Islamic center last week that they would not allow people to be sworn in with a Quran rather than a Bible.

In response, the Washington-based Council on Amerian-Islamic Relations asked Tuesday for a statewide policy allowing oaths to be taken on the Quran.

"Eliminating the opportunity to swear an oath on one's own holy text may also have the effect of diminishing the credibility of that person's testimony," CAIR Legal Director Arsalan Iftikhar said in a statement.

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said Wednesday that failing to establish a clear policy about the issue will lead to further confusion.

"I think there really does need to be a clear statement one way or the other," Hooper said. "Whether only a single religious text is viewed as holy scripture or whether, in our multi-faith, multi-ethnic society, there are a variety of texts that would be viewed as valid."

Now as much as I hate to agree with Ibrahim Hooper or any other representative of the terrorist-front group that is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), I have to agree with him. The use of a religious text is customary in our society, and the denial of the use of one's text is certainly problematic in a society that has significant grups practicing minority religions. Why shouldn't there be more thna one text used, at the discretion of the witnes? All that is needed is to ascertain in advance the text desired by the witness, and there will be no disruption. Either that, or eliminate the practice of taking an oath on religious texts, something that Most Americans (including me) would oppose.

Now if this happens, there needs to be a clear understanding that no text gets preferential treatment. That means none of the Gitmo-style wrapping the Quran in a towel, handling it with white gloves, or any of the other extreme veneration of the book required of service personnel for fear of offending the terrorists who have made war on the US and who still want to kill us. The Quran would have to be stored, handled and presented in a fashion identical to those other books. And if that means that the bailiff who holds the Quran after lunch is a menstruating woman who still has grease on her fingers from her BLT, no objection can be raised.

After all, treating the Quran differently would be "promoting one faith over another, and that is not what's allowed by the Constitution." And we wouldn't want that, would we Mr. Hooper?

Posted by: Greg at 11:50 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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You can be a communist, devoted to the overthrow of the US Constitution, and the ACLU will embrace you. You can be a Nazi, and the ACLU will leap to your aid. You can be a card-carrying al-Qaeda terrorists, and the ACLU will defend your rights. But if you support increased border security and the suppression of border-jumping, and the ACLU will throw you out of the organization.

The board of a section of New Mexico's American Civil Liberties Union has been suspended because a member was involved with an alleged vigilante program.

The ACLU's New Mexico leader suspended the board of the state's southern chapter pending a new election, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

The move came after board member Clifford Alford was asked to resign because he was involved with a group that planned a civilian patrol of the U.S.-Mexican border. Alford refused to step down.

Since there's no way to remove just one board member the entire panel was suspended.

Alford claimed the ACLU did not talk with him about the civilian program. He said a group established along the lines of the Minutemen would respect the civil rights of any immigrant found.

ACLU New Mexico Board President Gary Mitchell told the Journal: "We're not going to tolerate anyone depriving anyone of liberty without due process of law, not going to tolerate vigilante groups on the border without speaking out against them, and without monitoring."

But wait – the Minutemen are not a vigilante group. They patrol the border and report border-jumpers to the appropriate immigration authroities. Their methods are those of your local Neighborhood Watch group. There is no violation of due process rights – unless one also believes that calling the police on someone breaking into a home is a denial of due process.

What has clearly happened here is that the ACLU doesnÂ’t like having its people stray from the bounds of knee-jerk liberalism. And while the organization has every right to determine its membership and officers, it certainly seem to be acting in contradiction of its alleged principle of defending political speech and activities which are protected by the Constitution.

Posted by: Greg at 01:16 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Robert Byrd has tried to bleach his involvement in the KKK as white as freshly washed sheets. But letÂ’s consider the simple truths about that involvement.

After decades of trying to dodge, deflect and denigrate questions about his KKK past, Byrd has now had to bring it up himself. Because he has written an autobiography — "Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields," published this week by the University of West Virginia Press. But new and excellent reporting by Washington Post correspondent Eric Pianin revealed this week that Byrd's 770-page book still minimizes the duration and depth of his role in the Klan and his pursuit of the bigotry for which it stands.

Pianin reported that Byrd not only wrote Grand Wizard Samuel Green of Atlanta in 1941 to say he wanted to join the KKK, but he signed up 150 recruits to form a KKK chapter in Byrd's hometown of Crab Orchard, W.Va. Byrd has said he joined "because it offered excitement and because it was strongly opposed to communism." Byrd wrote that he was "caught up with the idea of being part of an organization to which 'leading persons' belonged." Byrd's book does not mention his1946 letter to the Grand Wizard, urging the growth of the Klan in West Virginia — written as a 29-year-old who'd begun his own political career in the state legislature.

Nor does the autobiography mention a Dec. 11, 1945, letter that Byrd wrote to Sen. Theodore Bilbo, D-Miss., Washington's most noxious segregationist, to complain about President Harry Truman's efforts to integrate the military. Byrd told Bilbo that he would never fight in the military "with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours be degraded by race mongrels."

It is a cadence and eloquence — but hardly a sentiment — that rings familiar today to liberals who now cheer the anti-Iraq War flourishes of the snow-haired old man whom they hail as a hero and proclaim to be "The Conscience of the Senate."

Democrats keep insisting that Byrd has apologized, repented, and made amends. But given his failure to acknowledge his full involvement with the Klan and the time period after his (acknowledged) membership during which he praised and promoted the organization, I question the sincerity of the apology.

Posted by: Greg at 01:14 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Dick Durbin made truly reprehensible comments about the military last week, and his apologies appear neither sincere nor complete. On the other hand, he, along with Senator Obama, is correct in this situation, trying to help the widow of a civilian contractor killed in Iraq stay in the United States.

Because the couple had not been married for at least two years, and because Todd Engstrom was working as a civilian contractor in Iraq, Diana Engstrom does not have the rights given to widows of active-duty soldiers.

"It just shows you that when you have these laws drawn so strictly, you forget the human element," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "Who would have thought when they wrote this law, that you'd have a situation where someone's married less than two years, dies protecting people from our country, but not in the armed services? The laws didn't consider those options, and that happens so many times when you're dealing with immigration questions."

Durbin and his Illinois colleague, Sen. Barack Obama, have co-sponsored a bill to grant Diana Engstrom permanent residency. Their legislation suspends the deportation process while the two senators round up votes.

In recent years, Congress has been reluctant to pass bills designed to benefit a single individual, and mostly they deal with immigration issues. Of the 132 so-called "private relief" bills introduced in the last Congress, only six became law.

"Generally, it's a bad idea to identify a single individual and do a piece of legislation for them," said Obama, "but this is such a heartbreaking story and it speaks to a lot of civilians who are essentially working on behalf of the war effort in Iraq."

Obama added that Engstrom case falls into "a gray area," since Todd Engstrom was a civilian acting as a U.S. military operative.

"We are going to be taking a look to see if we should be passing some more general laws to close this very narrow loophole," Obama added.

"In this new modern world where they're depending more on contractors, it seems that the intent of the law should include those that are in the war on the front lines doing the job," Ron Engstrom said.

"In my mind it is not a special consideration," he added. "To me it is a consideration that should be broadened to include everybody that serves in the war."

In this case I stand with Senators Durbin and Obama. They are right, and Diana Engstrom deserves to be permitted to stay in this country and raise her late husbandÂ’s son, just as he asked.

Oh, and for those of you on the Left, notice the source on the article -- Fox News. Just a little more proof for you that they are really fair and balanced.

Posted by: Greg at 01:13 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Michael Schiavo is clearly one of them.

The cremated remains of Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged woman who died after her feeding tube was removed in March, were buried Monday in a Clearwater cemetery.

The burial failed, however, to bring a close to the Schiavo saga. Instead, acrimony flared anew, with her parents complaining that they were not notified beforehand about the service.

Michael Schiavo, who said he promised his wife he would not keep her alive artificially and waged a long legal battle to remove her feeding tube, had the words "I kept my promise" inscribed on her bronze grave marker.

The marker also lists Feb. 25, 1990 - the day she collapsed and fell into what most doctors said was an irreversible vegetative state - as the date Schiavo "Departed this Earth."

Schiavo actually died March 31, nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was removed by court order. The marker lists that date as when Schiavo was "at peace."

David Gibbs, an attorney for the woman's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, decried the words on the marker.

"Obviously, that's a real shot and another unkind act toward a grieving mom and dad," Gibbs said.

Taking a shot at your dead wifeÂ’s parents on her tombstone, and refusing to even permit their attendance at her burial, is about as low as you can go. But then again, what do you expect from a guy who fights to kill his wife so he can marry his mistress, who is living in the family home along with his two illegitimate kids.

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California voters passed a law banning the recognition of homosexual marriage as a matter of constitutional law in 2000. This spring, a bill to recognize homosexual marriage was defeated in the state assembly. But the bill has been resurrected by a coterie of homosexual legislators, who aim to attach it to another piece of legislation and thereby overthrow the vote of the people.

Assemblyman Mark Leno, one of six openly gay members of the Legislature, said he has decided to employ a legislative maneuver known as "gut and amend" to resurrect the bill that on June 2 fell four votes shy of gaining the simple majority it needed to pass the 80-member house.

"My hope is that we will have a bill amended by the end of this week or the beginning of next," said Leno, declining to offer specifics on which legislation he plans to rewrite. "We intend to do this."

Leno's bill would have changed the California family code to define marriage between "two persons" instead of between a man and a woman. To bring it back to life, he can substitute his measure's language into a bill that successfully passed from the Assembly to the Senate.

If it passes Senate committees and makes it off the Senate floor, it would be the first time a legislative chamber in the nation had voted to give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual spouses. The measure would have to return to the Assembly for another round of voting before it could be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

So what we have here is a legislative body preparing to tell the people of the state to go screw themselves, because the political elite knows better. Who cares about votes and the voice of the people – the agenda of the left must be imposed by any means necessary.

Posted by: Greg at 01:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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California voters passed a law banning the recognition of homosexual marriage as a matter of constitutional law in 2000. This spring, a bill to recognize homosexual marriage was defeated in the state assembly. But the bill has been resurrected by a coterie of homosexual legislators, who aim to attach it to another piece of legislation and thereby overthrow the vote of the people.

Assemblyman Mark Leno, one of six openly gay members of the Legislature, said he has decided to employ a legislative maneuver known as "gut and amend" to resurrect the bill that on June 2 fell four votes shy of gaining the simple majority it needed to pass the 80-member house.

"My hope is that we will have a bill amended by the end of this week or the beginning of next," said Leno, declining to offer specifics on which legislation he plans to rewrite. "We intend to do this."

Leno's bill would have changed the California family code to define marriage between "two persons" instead of between a man and a woman. To bring it back to life, he can substitute his measure's language into a bill that successfully passed from the Assembly to the Senate.

If it passes Senate committees and makes it off the Senate floor, it would be the first time a legislative chamber in the nation had voted to give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual spouses. The measure would have to return to the Assembly for another round of voting before it could be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

So what we have here is a legislative body preparing to tell the people of the state to go screw themselves, because the political elite knows better. Who cares about votes and the voice of the people – the agenda of the left must be imposed by any means necessary.

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Yeah, John Kerry did fulfill his pledge to sign and submit a DD-180 – but limited the release of information to just three reporters. That means that the rest of us will never get to see for ourselves if what was released was complete and correct.

Senator Kerry of Massachusetts recently granted three reporters broad access to his Navy service records, according to documents obtained by The New York Sun.

The privacy waivers signed by Mr. Kerry authorized the release of "a single, one time copy of the complete military service record and medical record of John F. Kerry" to Glen Johnson of the Associated Press, Michael Kranish of the Boston Globe, and Stephen Braun of the Los Angeles Times.

The waivers, executed on a National Archives form known as Standard Form 180, also permitted release of "an undeleted report" of any discharges ever granted to Mr. Kerry. The undeleted reports would include the "character" of any discharge, the form indicates.

Last year, when Mr. Kerry was the Democratic nominee for president, some of the senator's critics speculated that a six-year gap in his service record indicated that he was disciplined or discharged less than honorably after leading antiwar protests in the 1970s. A spokesman for Mr. Kerry, David Wade, adamantly denied that the senator was ever punished by the military or discharged less than honorably.

The journalists who reviewed the records the Navy released said there was no indication of any discharge beyond the honorable one Mr. Kerry received in 1978.

One of Mr. Kerry's most steadfast critics, Houston attorney John O'Neill, said yesterday that the latest information from the Navy did not address the issue of whether Mr. Kerry's record might have been purged. "The real question was, was other material in there and was anything expunged?" Mr. O'Neill said.
The Navy provided the copies of the privacy waivers to the Sun in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Mr. Kerry first promised to make public his full Navy record more than a year ago. Mr. Kerry signed the waivers for the wire service and the Globe on May 20. The form for the Times was signed June 6.

A spokesman for Mr. Kerry rebuffed a request from the Sun for access to the service and medical files released to the other three news organizations.

Would the release of the presidentÂ’s service records to three reporters known to be friendly to the Bush be reckoned as full disclosure by the Democrats? I didnÂ’t think so. So why should a similar release by Kerry be seen as one?

Posted by: Greg at 01:03 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Certainly, if you or I did this. But celebrities are judged by a different standard.

She is living only a few miles away and is said to have more than one nanny to look after her child.

But Sharon Stone left her adopted son Roan in the car being looked after by her chauffeur for more than two hours while she had a late meal at one of London's most fashionable restaurants.

Despite the heat on Saturday night, four-year- old Roan managed to sleep through his mother's date with a mystery male companion.

He did not even appear to wake when scores of flash bulbs exploded as she left The Ivy at around 1am.

But many will wonder why she took the boy with her to the restaurant in Covent Garden and left him in the car when she is living so close by in Belgravia.

IÂ’m speechless.

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So much was made of Tom DeLay’s travels and who paid for them how. It was alleged that Jack Abramoff’s use of a credit card (later reimbursed by his client) to pay for some expenses was a violation of House rules. But guess what – it appears that Abramoff and his firm were told by the House Ethics Committee staff that such arrangements were permitted!

Internal memorandums and e-mail messages from the Seattle firm, Preston Gates & Ellis, say that the firm contacted two lawyers on the House ethics committee in 1996, when it began organizing large numbers of trips, and was told House rules probably allowed lobbyists to pay for a lawmaker's travel, as long as a client reimbursed the firm.

The memorandums and e-mail messages report that the ethics committee specifically addressed trips that the firm's chief lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, arranged for Mr. DeLay and other lawmakers to the Northern Mariana Islands, an American commonwealth in the Pacific that was among Mr. Abramoff's clients.
In 1997, a year after the firm's contact with the ethics committee, Mr. Abramoff arranged trips for Mr. DeLay to the Marianas and to Russia.

Mr. Abramoff also paid expenses for at least one other overseas trip for Mr. DeLay, a $70,000 visit in May 2000 to England and Scotland by Mr. DeLay, a Texas Republican, his wife and aides that may have been in violation of House rules. A House ethics manual issued a month earlier explicitly barred lobbyists from covering the travel costs of lawmakers, even if they were reimbursed.
Mr. DeLay, the House majority leader, has faced a flurry of ethics accusations involving foreign travel and his ties to Mr. Abramoff. Mr. DeLay's spokesman had no immediate comment on the Preston Gates documents.

The lawmaker has said he was unaware of the logistics of payment for the trips, including Mr. Abramoff's use of his personal credit card for airfare and other expenses, but always believed that his travels conformed to House rules. His staff has said that it understood the Northern Marianas trip was paid for by the islands' government, while other trips were paid for by a conservative research group associated with Mr. Abramoff.

Now yes, there was a change shortly before the 2000 trip, but in the context of the earlier advice it reduces the violation to one of negligible importance, on the level of an oversight, not corruption.

I guess this mud won’t stick, either.

Posted by: Greg at 01:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So much was made of Tom DeLay’s travels and who paid for them how. It was alleged that Jack Abramoff’s use of a credit card (later reimbursed by his client) to pay for some expenses was a violation of House rules. But guess what – it appears that Abramoff and his firm were told by the House Ethics Committee staff that such arrangements were permitted!

Internal memorandums and e-mail messages from the Seattle firm, Preston Gates & Ellis, say that the firm contacted two lawyers on the House ethics committee in 1996, when it began organizing large numbers of trips, and was told House rules probably allowed lobbyists to pay for a lawmaker's travel, as long as a client reimbursed the firm.

The memorandums and e-mail messages report that the ethics committee specifically addressed trips that the firm's chief lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, arranged for Mr. DeLay and other lawmakers to the Northern Mariana Islands, an American commonwealth in the Pacific that was among Mr. Abramoff's clients.
In 1997, a year after the firm's contact with the ethics committee, Mr. Abramoff arranged trips for Mr. DeLay to the Marianas and to Russia.

Mr. Abramoff also paid expenses for at least one other overseas trip for Mr. DeLay, a $70,000 visit in May 2000 to England and Scotland by Mr. DeLay, a Texas Republican, his wife and aides that may have been in violation of House rules. A House ethics manual issued a month earlier explicitly barred lobbyists from covering the travel costs of lawmakers, even if they were reimbursed.
Mr. DeLay, the House majority leader, has faced a flurry of ethics accusations involving foreign travel and his ties to Mr. Abramoff. Mr. DeLay's spokesman had no immediate comment on the Preston Gates documents.

The lawmaker has said he was unaware of the logistics of payment for the trips, including Mr. Abramoff's use of his personal credit card for airfare and other expenses, but always believed that his travels conformed to House rules. His staff has said that it understood the Northern Marianas trip was paid for by the islands' government, while other trips were paid for by a conservative research group associated with Mr. Abramoff.

Now yes, there was a change shortly before the 2000 trip, but in the context of the earlier advice it reduces the violation to one of negligible importance, on the level of an oversight, not corruption.

I guess this mud wonÂ’t stick, either.

Posted by: Greg at 01:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I guess that Dick Durbin is not the only member of the Illinois congressional delegation to be totally out of touch with reality. Lane Evans has shown a similar lack of coherant reasoning.

Noting that Durbin was working with him to protect the shifting of 1,200 jobs from Rock Island Arsenal under this year's round of base closings, Evans blamed the Bush administration for "putting our nation at risk" by realigning the arsenal and other bases in Illinois "at a time when we are fighting the war on terrorism."

"That is why I condemn the rhetoric of those intent on destroying the character of Dick Durbin, a public servant who has given so much to our military and to our veterans," said Evans, the senior Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee whose district includes the arsenal.

"This attempt by the right wing to shift responsibility and blame from the Bush administration to Sen. Durbin is pathetic and will backfire with the American people."

Would someone please connect the dots between the base closing and Gitmo? I don't get it.

Posted by: Greg at 01:57 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Gordon Quan, a popular Houston City Councilman, has bowed out of the 2006 race for the Democrat nomination for Congress so as not to jeopardize the chances of former Congressman Nick Lampson in next year's election for the 22nd Congreesional District seat held by Tom DeLay.

But as I read the article, I become more and more shocked about the nature of the Democrat Party, and the clear racial bias that exists there.

Quan, who had formed an exploratory committee for the 22nd Congressional District in April, said he wanted to avoid a "costly, divisive and lengthy" Democratic primary.

He said he conducted polling that showed DeLay has lost support among constituents and that he and Lampson had nearly equal support.

The district, which includes parts of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston and Harris counties, is solidly Republican and has elected DeLay 11 times.

Quan must leave the council in six months because of city term limits.

Quan, who is of Chinese ancestry, made the announcement at Kim Son restaurant in Stafford, and said he plans to help bring out the Asian vote for Lampson. Asians make up about 10 percent of the district.

Now let me get this straight. Nick Lampson doesn't live in the 22nd District -- but his grandparents did. He does not own a home there -- his residence is in the Beaumont area, at least 90 miles from the Fort Bend County communities that make up the heart of the 22nd District. He used to represent a few Harris County precincts that are now in the 22nd District, but they were never a strong part of his base of support -- but his grandparents used to live in Stafford. The powers that be in the Texas Democrat Party have recruited him and anointed him as the candidate -- and did we mention he used to visit his grandparents in Fort Bend County when he was a kid?

Quan, on the other hand, is a well-known and popular Democrat who has shown the ability to win elections in the area. A Chinese-American, he is part of a community that makes up 10% of the district. He does not need to establish residency to run in the 22nd District -- he lives there. And he is running even with Lampson in everything but fundraising -- because the Democrat power elite put the word out that Lampson is the candidate they want.

So why dump the popular Asian-American local officeholder in favor of a former congressman who does not even live in the district?

And what would be said if this were the GOP dumping a minority candidate in favor of a white carpetbagger candidate selected by the powers that be?

Posted by: Greg at 01:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This would be really humorous if it were not so frightening.

Broke and without enough money in the bank to pay its bills after the end of the month, the Florida Democratic Party has now been slapped with a lien by the Internal Revenue Service for failing to pay payroll and Social Security taxes in 2003.
The state party's budget and finance committee voted Tuesday to ask for a new audit to account for more than $900,000 it believes somehow disappeared from the books during the 2003-2004 calendar years when the party was led by Scott Maddox, who is now seeking its nomination for governor.

Maddox and successor Karen Thurman, who became the party's new chairwoman just last month, did not immediately return phone messages asking for comment on the findings.

"We're going to be on top of this a lot more than we were previously, not only in Scott's term of office, but Bob Poe's term in office," state party vice-chair Diane Glasser of Fort Lauderdale said Tuesday. "We weren't getting all the information we should have been getting." Maddox replaced Poe.

While the party owes roughly $200,000 in delinquent payroll and Social Security taxes, the lien was against the remaining $98,000 in their account on Friday, longtime Leon County committeeman Jon Ausman said. Ausman said it cost about $250,000 a month to pay salaries and overhead for the party operation in Tallahassee and that it had been spending more so far this year than it has raised.

So what we see here is that the Florida Dems have floated a $200,000 from the taxpauyers by failing to turn over to the government money held out of employee salaries for taxes. Seems to me that there is a serious issue of financial mismanagement and fraud here. Who is going to be the first locked up?

But it gets even worse, as the responsible officials in the party look to pass the blame elsewhere.

more...

Posted by: Greg at 01:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Just a quick reminder about the Holocaust, that historical evil you minimized and denied last week with your comments on Gitmo, as well as the other government-sponsored mass murders you belittled.

Aushwitz. Bergen-Belsen. Birkenau. Buchenwald. Dachau. Majdanek. Mauthausen. Sobibor. Treblinka.

Ring any bells?

Those were true concentration camps - places where death crossed all human boundaries and people died simply because of who they were.

If you were a Gypsy, you died. If you were mentally handicapped, you died. If you were a homosexual, you died. If you were a dissident, you died. If you were a Jew, you moved to the head of the line and died as part of a program aimed at the extermination of an entire race.

Mothers and children were killed. Fathers and sons were killed. The sick and the old were killed. Babies were bashed against walls. Children were thrown into fires. People were packed into "bath houses" and killed by the score, after which the bodies were packed into ovens and burnt to ash.

The death toll in such camps has been estimated to be as high as 11 million people.

The Soviet gulags got started earlier, but their "best" years were between 1930 and 1950. Again, millions (estimates range from 20 million to 50 million) perished. One of the worst of these camps was a little patch of sunshine called Kolyma. Those fond of making comparisons might want to read up on it.

Minor aside: Given such numbers, one wonders why the term "Communists" isn't used more frequently since the Nazis were, obviously, a second-string operation when it came to slaughtering innocent people.

As regards Pol Pot and his merry band of killers, here's a bit of information provided by the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Organization:

"The Khmer Rouge turned Cambodia to year zero. They banned all institutions, including stores, banks, hospitals, schools, religion, and the family. Everyone was forced to work 12-14 hours a day, every day. Children were separated from their parents to work in mobile groups or as soldiers. People were fed one watery bowl of soup with a few grains of rice thrown in. Babies, children, adults and the elderly were killed everywhere. The Khmer Rouge killed people if they didn't like them, if they didn't work hard enough, if they were educated, if they came from different ethnic groups, or if they showed sympathy when their family members were taken away to be killed. All were killed without reason. Everyone had to pledge total allegiance to Angka, the Khmer Rouge government. It was a campaign based on instilling constant fear and keeping their victims off balance."
The death toll was 2.5 million.

When will you resign, sir?

Posted by: Greg at 10:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I found this over at National Review. What do you think, Senator Durbin? Are you prepared to call this military chaplain a liar, in addition to a war criminal who has committedcrimes against humanity?

Here's a list that might help you if you're willing to listen to an Ordained Elder who knows the facts rather than accusations made based on speculation. I'll respond here specifically to some of the ones I've heard.

1. The detainees have direct access to the International Red Cross representatives contrary to the accusations that they have no outside contact. Also, all the detainees are allowed to write and receive mail from family.

2. The detainees have their food prepared according to Islamic guidelines. The call to prayer is broadcast for them to go to prayer. Each detainee has the direction to Meccah painted in their cell. They are allowed to practice their religion without interference and are given the religious items they need to do so. They are allowed to observe Ramadan.

3. There are strict guidelines and training concerning human rights protections. If a service member sees a violation they are to report it and if asked to violate someone's human rights they are to consider it as an unlawful order. Those who violate are subject to prosecution.

I know, Senator, that such a man is not nearly as trustworthy as an enemy cobattant who violated international law in taking up arms agains the United States, but I hope you will give his claims some weight.

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I'm always troubled by school district policies that seek to ban the Confederate flag. It is a symbol with a multiplicity of meanings, depending upon the wearer and the observer. Is it a racist hate symbol? The iconic image of ancestral heritage? A signe of rebelliousness? Or simply an advertising slogan (we have a "blody-art shop near school, patronized by all ethninc groups, called Southern Boys', that uses the banner as its logo)? What should schools do about the flag> And what CAN they do?

Personally, I think this district stepped over the line in its response to the Confederate flag. They want to ban every flag except the American flag, unless specific advance permission is obtained to celebrate a certain heritage on a particular day.

The proposed ban, which would be unique in the Tampa Bay region, was drafted by a district committee examining changes to the student code of conduct. In addition to barring students from wearing the Confederate flag, the proposal would keep them from wearing the flag of any other country, unless there is "a designated ethnic recognition activity held at the school."

The scope of the flag ban could make it vulnerable to litigation. Becky Steele, director of the West Central Florida region of the American Civil Liberties Union, said it was "overly broad" and would create "serious first amendment problems."

Barbara Renczkowski, president of the Hernando County council of PTAs and a member of the committee that proposed the change, said the ban had come up because officials wanted to head off students who might wear the Confederate flag to school. Members then decided to expand the ban rather than keep it narrow, Renczkowski said.

"It was an observation that it could possibly cause problems," Renczkowski said. "They just felt it would be easier to ban them all (except the American flag) instead of just one."

Now I see a couple of issues. First, there is the issue of Tinker v. DsMoines. Are these flags causing a disruption in school? It seems not, with the possible exception of the Confederate flag. But the article doesn't list any problems in this school. And even if the wearing of the flag makes some uncomfortable, does it rise to the level of a disruption under Tinker? After all, the First Amendment exists to protect speech that makes people uncomfortable.

Second, does this ban constitute the establishment of a political orthodoxy by the school district? In permitting the American flag at all times, but banning all others except when permitted by schools, does it have the effect of endorsing one position and penalizing all others? If so, it would seem to go beyond the limits set in the 1943 Flag Salute case.

Still, I'm interested inthe thoughts of others. What do you think?

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I've been fascinated with the ancient Greeks and the age of Pericles ever since the first book about them was stuck in my hands somewhere arouhnd the age of eight-years old. As the son of a naval officer, I was particularly interested inthe battle at Salamis, which saved the Athenians (and the rest of the Greeks) from defeat at the hands of the Persians.

Marine archaeologists are now searching for evidence about the battle which made the development of classical civilization (as we know it) possible.

In the world of underwater archaeology the hunt for the legendary armadas is the expedition that might, just, scoop all others.

Topping the international team's wish list is the remains of a trireme, the pre-eminent warship of the classical age.

"This is high-risk archaeology," says the team's co-leader, Dr Shelly Wachsmann, of Texas A&M University. "Discovering a trireme is one of the holy grails. Not one has ever been found."

The Persians' defeat at Salamis is seen as one of the first victories of democracy over tyranny, a crucial moment in Western history. Without it, say scholars, there would have been no golden age and the world would have been a very different place.

All of which makes this week-long mission more poignant as experts try to discover how the Greeks managed to defeat a much bigger and better-equipped enemy.

If this Aggie gets his trireme, I might even be persuaded to offer a hearty "Gig 'Em" on their behalf.

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Good grief -- if this young man has this exceptional talent and range, why deny him the right to compete on a fair and equal basis with the girls?

Singing soprano is for girls only in Texas' All-State Choir, eliminating a 17-year-old boy's chance to audition for a statewide honor and raising questions about gender and vocal performance.

The Texas Music Educators Association denied a petition by Mikhael Rawls of suburban Fort Worth to audition this fall for the elite ensemble as a soprano, a part traditionally sung by girls.

Rawls sings countertenor, a little known male voice part that has surged in popularity in classical and operatic circles in the past decade. He can sing an octave and a half higher than most boys his age, and he feels most comfortable singing in that range. He has even won first place as a soprano in the University Interscholastic League's competition two years in a row.

The association, however, does not allow boys to sing soprano, or alto or girls to sing tenor or bass. Association spokeswoman Amy Lear said the group adopted the rule two years ago because of concerns that girls auditioning for tenor parts were hurting their voices by singing too low.

"If you make a rule one way it has to work both ways,"

Actually, no you don't have to make it both ways. On the one hand, you have individuals being harmed by exceeding their abilities. On the other, you have someone trying to sing in their natural range. No reasonable judge in the world would see it differently.

Oh, that's right, I just used a non-sequiter -- "reasonable judge".

The young man, though, hits the nail right on the head in his letter to the association.

"This is an education association that is supposed to be fostering and developing young singers," said Maguire, who wrote a letter to the Texas group urging them to approve Rawls' petition. "Keeping someone from singing what is essentially natural to them is not fostering them."

Fortuantely, colleges are already looking at this fine young man. He'll get to sing on the college level -- and well beyond, if I do not miss my guess.

Good luck, Mikhael! I long to hear your voice some day.

Posted by: Greg at 01:59 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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William Kristol makes an excellent point in The Daily Standard. It is not the responsibility of the Republicans to act against Dick Durbin for his reprehensible statements against the US military. Rather, it is the responsibility of the Democrats.

Why not put the burden on the Democrats? When Sen. Trent Lott made a far less damaging, but still deplorable, statement two and a half years ago, his fellow Republicans insisted he step down as their leader. Shouldn't Democrats insist that Sen. Durbin step down as their whip, the number two man in their leadership? Shouldn't conservatives (and liberals) legitimately ask Democrats to hold their leader to account, especially given the precedent of Lott?

Yes, what is the Democrat Party's response to Durbin's outrageous words and his clear lack of repentance over them -- as evidenced by his non-apology which indicates he believes the comparison to the Nazis was appropriate but misunderstood? Do the Democrats penalize such Holocaust denial (for that is what his comments constitute)? We know that the Democrats still refuse to come to grips with the true nature of Communism and the murderous barbarism of that system. Yet one would have hopes that the genocide of six-million innocent Jews and the liquidation of six-million other innocents would still be seen as quantitatively and qualitatively different from the use of extreme interrogation techniques against a few hundred terrorists who took up arms against the US in a manner that violates international law and places them outside its protection. Will the Democrats in the Senate (and elsewhere) act to repudiate Durbin's minimization of industrialized murder?

Senator Durbin is scheduled to join Democratic chairman Howard Dean at a big fundraiser at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., this Tuesday. I assume he will withdraw from that appearance. But if he cannot appear with his party chairman, one can ask how he can lead his party in the Senate? And if he does appear with Dean Tuesday night, and stays in his party's Senate leadership, doesn't that tell us everything we need to know about today's Democratic party?

The GOP sacrificed Trent Lott for the crime of saying kind but stupid words to an old man on the occasion of his reaching 100-years of age. Should we not expect the Democrats to do at least as much against a senior member of leadership whose words clearly defame our troops, implicitly deny the magnitude of the Holocaust, and arguably give aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States during time of war?

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I guess the Senator from Illinois just isn't disturbed enough by reports of real torture against real innocents to issue any sort of condemnation. But American troops are Nazis for turning off the AC.

What I see in front of me is absolutely heartbreaking. It's two of four hostages who are being taken away, rescued. They were rescued this morning. They're Iraqi, and they were found in this complex that Marines first thought was a car-bomb factory. In fact, they did find what they believe was a potential car bomb or suicide car bomb.

But inside this complex, they found something even more sinister -- four Iraqis who were handcuffed, their hands and feet bound with steel cuffs. They're now being taken away for medical treatment, one being borne away on a stretcher.

The man in intense pain that they're trying to get into a vehicle, has been tortured, he says, and has all the marks of being tortured with electricity. His back is crisscrossed with welts. The other man is even ... in worse shape. Their crime was to be part of the border police.

The Marines came in here this morning, rescued them. The battle is still raging around us. I don't know if you can hear the gunfire, but this is a major offensive to get rid of insurgents and foreign fighters in this city near the Syrian border....

... Two young men say they don't know why they were seized. They say they didn't hear the voices of their captors, only people whispering in their ear that they were going to be killed.

But we have just watched the two who were most badly treated be carried out of here for medical equipment, one of them on a stretcher, an older man who worked for the border police, along with his colleague. ... the Marines showed us the room where he says he was hung by his feet, his head dipped in water and then tortured with electric shocks repeatedly.

One of the other men, the other border police, was too weak, really, to tell us what had happened. But he obviously was in very, very bad shape.

They were rescued this morning as Marines and Iraqi forces came into this complex, which included an underground bunker, weapons stockpiles and other things, and found them here. Their captors have fled.

Bring on a Senate censure -- or better yet, his resignation.

Posted by: Greg at 09:39 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Does Joe Biden really believe he would stand a chance, given his 1988 scandal and his later health concerns -- not to mention Hillary?

Democratic U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden said on Sunday he intends to run for president in 2008, two decades after he dropped out of the race amid charges he plagiarized a British politician's speech.

"My intention now is to seek the nomination," Biden, of Delaware, said on CBS television's "Face the Nation." He said he would explore his support and decide by the end of this year -- a sign the race may get off to an early and competitive start.

"If in fact I think I have a clear shot at winning the nomination, by this November or December, then I'm going to seek the nomination," he said.

Biden is the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a frequent critic of President Bush's Iraq policy.

Still, if he did get the nomination I think he would be an easy-to-beat candidate for the eventual GOP nominee.

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A Muslim student at the University of Arkansas, upset that his doctoral dissertation would require another six-months to defend, decided to leave off his studies and become a terrorist.

Federal agents arrested Arwah J. Jaber, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Palestine, on a criminal complaint accusing him of knowingly attempting to provide support to a foreign terrorist organization.According to a criminal affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court in Fort Smith, an anonymous tipster from Fayetteville placed a call earlier this month to the Department of Homeland Security to inform them that Arwah Jaber, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry at UA, intended to go to Palestine to fight in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

A video of the May 14 graduation at the University of Arkansas shows Jaber joining thousand of of other students in commencement exercises. Jaber was a candidate in the program for the last four years, and according to the affidavit, had only six months left to go before he had completed his studies. But just days before graduation, Jaber's attitude had suddenly shifted as evidenced in an e-mail Jaber sent to his doctoral advisor on May 11. The professor turned over the e-mail after being questioned by investigators. It reads in part:

“Since Dr. Wilkins was unable to help me graduate this May, I have decided to take an honorable job in Palestine with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Organization to pursue a more noble cause -- freedom, justice and peace for the Palestinians and to fight the Israeli terrorism. This action will make it impossible for me to return to the states to defend my dissertation -- assuming I am still alive."

more...

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To nobody's surprise, RINO Comptroller Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn announced her bid to unseat Governor Rick Perry in the 2006 GOP primary.

"You know that Texans cannot afford another four years of a governor who promises tax relief and delivers nothing," she said.

"Now is time to replace this do-nothing drugstore cowboy with one tough grandma," Strayhorn told a cheering crowd.

Strayhorn specifically criticized Perry for his decision today to veto the state's $35 billion education budget and call a new special session without having a plan on how to overhaul public school finance.

"A leader does not call a fifth special session — costing taxpayers another $1.5 million dollars — when he does not have a plan," she said. "A leader does not hold our children's education hostage and certainly would never even allow a discussion about schools not opening on time."

Strayhorn offered two specific suggestions on what she would do as governor. One is to pass her proposed program to pay for two years of college for every high school graduate. And the other is to legalize video lottery terminals with the revenue going to pay for a teacher pay raise.

Strayhorn has been able to brag in her statewide electi

While Strayhorn has done well in general elections in recent years, she does not have as strong support among GOP primary voters. She trailed Perry by 80,000 votes in the 2002 primary in number of primary votes received.

CAMPAIGN NOTE: I'm backing Perry -- please contact me if you are interested in supporting Governor Perry.

Posted by: Greg at 04:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I just ran across the single most impresive post in the blogosphere on the pathetic smear of America by Senator Dick-less Durbin.

I already know my nominee for this week's Watcher's Council vote.

Posted by: Greg at 05:17 AM | Comments (26) | Add Comment
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John Kass of the Chicago Trbune offers this pointed reminder -- and rebuke -- to Senator Dick-less Durbin regarding his outrage over the non-torture inflicted upon terrorist prisoners at Gitmo.

We're at war, Senator. How can you possibly justify that statement?

And you know what? We have learned from history. The reason buildings at Guantanamo are full is because there are two big holes in the ground in New York.

Senator, weren't you one of those legitimately complaining that U.S. intelligence dropped the ball and something had to be done so it wouldn't happen again?

It is being done. Much of it isn't polite or civilized and some of it upsets me, like the abuse of the Koran. Suspects have been pushed around, hurt, and enemies have been given propaganda fodder.

Clearly, Americans don't like it when others get hurt. But Americans really don't like it when Americans get hurt.

At any rate, this is not the kind of torture I've heard about. In World War II in Greece, my father was handed over to the Germans on the suspicion he aided downed British airmen. They beat him, day after day, making him dig his own grave. He played dumb to survive and it worked. An uncle was forced into a labor camp. The Nazis didn't use Christina Aguilera music on him, though luckily, he too survived.

Sen. Durbin, in other places, suspected terrorists have their feet flayed with rods, their families raped; they're force-fed a quart of olive oil, then tied, seated, to a block of ice. By your own words, Senator, Guantanamo isn't remotely like that.

You don't have to apologize to the Republicans in the White House. But Senator, you should apologize to the nation.

And if you don't have the stomach for the work, please have the guts not to play partisan politics with what has to be done.

Seriously.

Better yet, Senator -- RESIGN!

Posted by: Greg at 04:01 AM | Comments (22) | Add Comment
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Some things don't need much commentary.

The furious widow of a New York National Guardsman murdered at a military base in Iraq branded the soldier accused of killing him "a traitor and a coward" yesterday.

"God have mercy on him but I hope that no one else will," Barbara Allen said of Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez.

Try. Convict. Execute.

Posted by: Greg at 03:54 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Like everyone else, I complain about the medical insurance my employer offers -- it seems like premiums go up but benefits go down every year, and the plan that district administrators can afford is way out of the price range of those of us who actually perform the primary task of the school district -- educate students.

But I've never really been attracted to the notion of a socialized medical program, no matter how much the advocates of such plans waxed eloquent about the medical care in Canada, the UK, or the Soviet Union (hey -- I still remembr the discussions from my college days).

Articles like this one help me remember that such schemes are inherrantly flawed and riddled with inefficiency.

A HOSPITAL told a road accident victim that she would have to wait a year and a half for an NHS brain scan, but could have the procedure done privately at the same unit in two weeks, The Times has learnt.

In a case that highlights the crisis in diagnostic tests, King’s College Hospital, London, warned Rachel King that, because of “heavy demand”, the MRI scan that her consultant had sought could be delayed for 80 weeks.

But a handwritten note at the end of the letter gave a telephone number for the hospital’s “self-pay” private clinic, where she could have the procedure in two weeks for £983.

Ms KingÂ’s case is the starkest example yet of widespread delays in diagnostic tests across the health service. One in five trusts has waiting times of more than a year for MRI scans, and two in five have waits of more than six months.

A quarter of trusts said that 25 per cent or more of their scanning capacity was not used but lack of staff and resources prevent increased usage.

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We are always told that teenagers have a right to privacy and reproductive choice. So what is the deal here? On what basis is this nurse insisting that a student take a pregnancy test? Especially since the basis of her demand is a rumor that the girl herself denied.

A 15-year-old San Marcos girl and her father have filed a federal lawsuit against her school nurse, who allegedly forced the girl to take a pregnancy test.

The lawsuit claims nurse Dyanna Eastwood called the girl to her office and told her that a student at another school claimed he impregnated her.

Eastwood insisted the girl take the test, according to the lawsuit.

The girl said she did not have sex with the boy and denied that she was pregnant.

The girl's lawyer also said she was not pregnant.

The suit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Austin, claims the girl's privacy and constitutional rights were violated during the January event.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims Eastwood violated the girl's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.

There are a couple of fundamental problems here, from my point of view. more...

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We Texans have been eagerly awaiting a decision by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on whether she will run for reelection to the Senate or challenge Rick Perry for Governor. Today we got half the answer. UPDATE -- This updated story contains more information and clarifies her Senate plans.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced today that she will run for a third Senate term, ending months of speculation that she would challenge Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the Republican nomination in 2006.

An e-mail distributed by Hutchison's campaign said she would make the formal announcement on June 27, when she would provide details on her decision and "why she believes it is in the best interest of Texas."

Hutchison had long been considered a likely challenger to Perry, who is seeking his second full term. He became governor in 2000, after George W. Bush resigned to become president. He was elected to a full four-year term in 2002.

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I find it strange that this Reuters article fails to mention the subject's most famous and influential client. Neither do the AP or LA Times articles on the case.

Imprisoned celebrity sleuth Anthony Pellicano was charged on Friday with threatening a Los Angeles Times reporter three years ago to keep her from pursuing a story about action movie star Steven Seagal.

The criminal complaint charging Pellicano and an associate was brought a week after a U.S. appeals court ruled prosecutors were free to use evidence seized by authorities during a search of his West Hollywood office in 2002.

A private eye for more than two decades, Pellicano, 61, is serving a 30-month federal prison term for his conviction on charges of keeping unregistered firearms, grenades and plastic explosives in his office safe.

Pellicano, a self-described "sin eater" for celebrities he was hired to keep out of the press, worked for such stars as Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner and some of the biggest lawyers in the entertainment industry.

The investigation of Pellicano was triggered by reports in 2002 that he had tried to intimidate reporter Anita Busch, then working for the Los Angeles Times, to keep her from working on stories about a suspected Mafia extortion plot against Seagal.

Quick -- who is the client that is left out of the article?

more...

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A good chunk of my family are graduates of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. I even have a few credits from the school myself, taken when I lived in the area and was a staff member at the local homeless shelter. I've even had family teach at the SIU, which holds a very special place in my heart.

Now stuff like this is sort of an annual right of spring at SIU-Carbondale, which has a beautiful wooded campus. A couple of years ago there was a buck that got caught in the lobby of one of the academic buildings. But it would appear that this fawning season is a bit more intense than most.

Students and faculty at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale are getting a summer lesson about fawning, after deer have threatened or attacked seven people on campus over the past two weeks.

Four of the victims were sent to a hospital, none with life-threatening injuries. The latest confrontation came Tuesday, when a doe charged three people, hospitalizing two.

The school says such attacks are rare, although warnings about the deer are being posted.

All of the encounters happened near Thompson Woods and may be tied to a female deer's natural protectiveness during fawning season that typically peaks this month and is almost over.

A scientist also says the area's deer population likely is rising and that construction perhaps has pushed the animals into campus.

So remember, Salukis, those deer are NOT tame. Bambi's mama is gonna kick your ass if you piss her off, so please give her a wide berth.

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Bret Stephens, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, recently had a disturbing encounter with a senior member of the staff at the German consulate in New York.

But the diplomat had no patience for my small talk. Apropos of nothing, he said he had recently made a study of U.S. tax laws and concluded that practices here were inferior to those in Germany. Given recent rates of German economic growth, I found this comment odd. But I offered no rejoinder. I was, after all, a guest in his home.

The diplomat, however, was just getting started. Bad as U.S. economic policy was, it was as nothing next to our human-rights record. Had I read the recent Amnesty International report on Guantanamo? "You mean the one that compared it to the Soviet gulag?" Yes, that one. My host disagreed with it: The gulag was better than Gitmo, since at least the Stalinist system offered its victims a trial of sorts.

Nor was that all. Civil rights in the U.S., he said, were on a par with those of North Korea and rather behind what they had been in Europe in the Middle Ages. When I offered that, as a journalist, I had encountered no restrictions on press freedom, he cut me off. "That's because The Wall Street Journal takes its orders from the government."

By then we had sat down at the formal dining table, with our backs to Ground Zero a half-mile away and our eyes on the boats on the river below us. My wife and I made abortive attempts at ordinary conversation. We were met with non sequiturs: "The only people who appreciate American foreign policy are poodles." After further bizarre pronouncements, including a lecture on the illegality of the Holocaust under Nazi law, my wife said that she felt unwell. We gathered our things and left.

Stephens, unfortunately, does not identify the cretin in question. Having remained mute and failed to adequately defend his own country in the course of the conversation -- lest he appear impolite, one would presume -- he now feels that to identify him would be a breach of ethics.

I disagree.

Mr. Stephens, your host crossed the bounds of decency, as well as of diplomacy. He is clearly a public figure, and a representative of his government. What expectation of privacy, of confidentiality, does he really have? You've disclosed the substance of the conversation, which did not occur in a professional capacity. How is disclosing the identity of the speaker a greater violation?

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Having recently finished O'Brian's epic Aubrey/Maturin novels (I did Hornblower a couple of years ago), I've developed a fascination with Lord Nelson. And given that we are near to the anniversary of the glorious Battle of Trafalgar, it seems right tthat I note the presence of this document on the auction list at Bobnham's in London.

A description of the horrors of the Battle of Trafalgar written by a barely literate below-decks seaman is to be auctioned next month as enthusiasm for memorabilia peaks on the 200th anniversary of the battle in which Admiral Horatio Nelson crushed a French and Spanish fleet.

The document describes the action of Britain's greatest naval victory from the point of view of Robert Sands, a 17-year-old "powder monkey" on the Temeraire, and includes an account of how he almost suffocated in the smoke from the ship's 98 guns and how he narrowly escaped death from a fire.

His story opens with a description of the famous signal to the fleet sent by Nelson: "He said he oped that Everey man would doo his Duty this day for old Englands sake for it would be a gloureus day for them that lived to see the end of it."

Later Sands writes: "We had to leave our Quarters 2 get breth. The smoke sofecated us."

As I loke to remind my students, history is not just the lives of the great men and women of an age, but those of the humblest as well.

I wish I had an extra $7000 lying around to make this purchase.

It is expected to go for about $7000 (3000 pounds). I certainly wish I had that sort of cash to spare.

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It seems clear that Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is looking to be on the 2008 Democrat ticket, and is making sure that there are as many Democrats on the voting rolls in Iowa as possible. Never mind that he is overriding the clear intent of iowa law to do it.

Gov. Tom Vilsack said Friday he soon will sign an executive order restoring voting rights to convicted felons who have served their sentence.

"This action we take is not going to be a pardon," Vilsack said.

The governor said only five other states prohibit felons from voting after completing their sentences.

"We're here today to talk about justice," Vilsack aid. "When you've paid your debt to society, you need to be reconnected to society.

Vilsack said about 600 felons last year had voting rights restored, but he said it's a painstaking and time-consuming process that distracts the state's parole board and investigators.

Vilsack said he will sign the measure on July 4 with the symbolism of Independence Day.

Vilsack notes that his action will not restore other civil rights, such as the right to keep and bear arms. I guess he believes that these folks are responsible enough to direct the fate of the country, but not to carry the means of self-defense like a free man.

Stroke of the pen -- law of the land. Kinda disgusting.

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As I drove in to work this morning, I couldn't help but be amused about the report of flashing signals -- at the intersection of Clinton and Fidelity.

INSERT YOUR JOKE HERE

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Congratulations to the winners (to all the nominees, actually) of this weeks Watcher's Council vote over at Watcher of Weasels.

The winning entry from a Council member was WhatÂ’s the Real Question in America, from The Sundries Shack.

The winning non-Council entry was Zimbabwe Changed My Mind: Guns Are A Human Right, located at Winds of Change.

I encourage you to read the winning posts, and to peruse the others that were entered this week.

Posted by: Greg at 05:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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